Love Is Blind
by silverwaves0210
Summary: Katara and Aang are involved in a fatal accident which leaves Katara blind. The doctor's tell her that Aang's body is missing and that they believe he is dead, but Katara refuses to listen. Katara goes on a mission with Toph to prove everybody wrong.
1. The Swim Meet

_Author's Note: I'm so happy to be working on this! I took quite a prolonged break from , feeling like I didn't have an obligation to keep updating after finishing Dear Diary. I gave up the computer for Lent, so that is another reason I was never on. But I kind of caved for a split second and I really wanted to write this new story--I can definitely see the potential behind it. Every time I write now, it seems it's my original stories. But today I had an urge to write and I didn't feel like writing my own works, so I decided, "Hey, what about that fan fiction that I casted to the side?" :) I had written an AWFUL first chapter to this, and I just threw that first draft out the window and started a completely new first chapter because the other one was so incredibly crappy. Any way, I deeply apologize for my unnecessary long break from the stress of keeping up with stories, but now that I have a new, fresh, and original story going, I'm excited to see the outcome! I hope there are still plenty of avatards out there on , or else I'm writing to no one! I'm aiming to get more reviews/views than Dear Diary, hopefully I can make that happen! (Actually, only you can make that happen. Please read and enjoy my stories!) _

* * *

The car turned a street corner as the two occupants chatted with each other about their lives, school, and whatever else they came up with. Katara was eighteen years old, and a senior at Kyoshi High. She was the MVP of the swim team, a skilled potter, and one of the most popular girls at school. She was beautiful; her tan skin shined in the sunlight and chocolate hair billowed down her back like a waterfall. Her piercing blue eyes were soft with understanding. Her favorite color was blue, and she always made sure that some part of her wardrobe contained the captivating color.

Then there was Aang. He was seventeen years old; a junior at Kyoshi High. He played lacrosse, track, and he was a pole vault jumper. He loved being outdoors more than anything else. He had dark brown hair that was slightly untamed but suited his personality. His pale skin glowed and his stormy grey eyes were intriguing and mysterious, unlike his personality. He made known his emotions, but not in the whiny, annoying way. He expressed himself wonderfully, and everyone could tell just what kind of person he was just by looking at him. He preferred to wear bright colors; oranges and yellows were more often seem on him than the drab greys and blacks.

He had one distinct quality about him that separated him from the rest of the crowd; Aang had bright blue tattoos. The first impression that people get when they think of someone with tattoos is that they are trouble. They also tend to think of dark skulls and roses and the names of ex-girlfriends written on banners in front of hearts or carried by cupid. That wasn't Aang's style. Aang had arrow tattoos tracing across all of his limbs, and even extending over his head and pointing downward on his forehead. The bright blue lines swirled around his arms and made their point at his hands, the same to go with his feet, and continued on for eternity, the point always leading to some place new.

Katara and Aang were friends. They were really close and they shared everything together. Out of their whole group, they were closest with each other. There was also Toph, she was Aang's age, and she was blind. However, she somehow managed to play practically every sport their school had to offer and be the best player in the country.

Sokka was Katara's brother, and he was now in college, but he still lived at home, since it was close by. All his college buddies thought he was so lame for hanging out with his little sister and her "little high schooler friends", but he thought nothing of it. To him, they were great friends, even if they did tease him all the time.

They also hung out with Haru, who had already started sprouting a mustache in junior year (and refused to shave it off), "The Duke" (His football nickname, which everyone addressed him by. He was a pretty good player for someone who was still 4"8.), "Pipsqueak" (Another nickname made up as a joke. The guy was huge!), Teo, who was paralyzed from the waist down but still as adventurous as Aang, and many other friends. However, Katara, Aang, Sokka, and Toph were the strongest friends and always hung out with each other.

The group also recently greeted Zuko, who used to bully Aang around a lot but decided he wanted to change his ways. Aang welcomed him in right away, which surprised Katara since he really hurt Aang throughout the years. She had held a grudge against him for a long time, but they had made amends and respected one another now.

Katara also secretly had a crush on Aang for about two years now. She had first noticed her feeling for him back when she was only a sophomore and he was just a freshman. He had asked her to a school dance, not the big senior prom nights, since they were too young, but just a fun school party. That night Katara had started to develop feelings for the boy. Now that she was a senior, she was thinking of returning the favor by asking him to the prom. She was just nervous that he would reject her.

They were on the highway and Aang was going really fast. He had the windows rolled down so that they could feel the rush of the wind. Riding with Aang was always so exhilarating for Katara! She had asked him to driv her to a swim meet that was pretty far away, and he, of course, said yes. Aang loved to watch Katara's swim meets, and he drove her whenever she asked.

Of course, Katara had a car of her own. She also had a big brother and a loving father who would both be more than willing to take her. Katara just always loved to go with Aang, and everyone understood why. There were the obvious reasons: he was her best friend, she had a crush on him, and since he loved to go, why not carpool? However, there were other selfish reasons in which Katara to want to go with him, and she laughed whenever she thought of it; Aang had a sweet ride. For a seventeen year old, he was able to drive with the best of them.

The two laughed together as Katara clutched her swim bag containing all of her gear. They were almost at their destination, and she didn't want the ride to end! It had been one of the better ones—a lot to say, never awkward silences (not that their silences were ever awkward.), and it was a beautiful day.

The car rushed over a bridge and Katara peered over it and glanced at the water below.

"Isn't it such a beautiful element?" she mused.

"What is?" Aang asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Water," Katara replied.

Aang smiled. "Oh, right, of course it is. It's my second favorite."

Katara turned to look at him with one eyebrow raised. "Second favorite? What's your first?"

"Air," Aang replied simply.

Katara laughed. "Of course, that explains so much."

Aang laughed in response. Suddenly he looked surprised and he then leaned forward in his seat and squinted his eyes.

"Anything wrong?" Katara asked.

Aang leaned back looking confused. "Does that look strange to you?"

Katara looked forward and saw a hummer on the opposite side of the road. It was zooming at full speed, with a determined looking woman inside. Her eyes were planted right on their car.

"What is she doing?" Katara asked, slightly nervous.

Aang looked panicked. "Katara, I don't think you should be in this car anymore."

Katara was confused. "Excuse me?"

Aang unlocked the doors and slowed down a bit, rolling up his windows. "Quick."

"You're kicking me out?" Katara's annoyance was triggered. "The car is still moving!"

Aang glanced nervously out his window at the hummer, still quite a distance away and quickly approaching. "Just trust me on this one."

"Aang, are you nervous that this woman will hit us?" Katara laughed. "Aang, don't be paranoid, she's in the opposite lane. She's probably just looking at this car because she's jealous. A lot of people do that you know."

"Katara!"

"Aang, seriously, don't panic!"

The hummer suddenly swerved out of its lane. The tires squealed and Katara barely had time to scream before the two vehicles collided. Both cars crashed into the gate of the bridge and the sound of the metal caving to the pressure was heard before the sensation of falling filled Katara's senses.

"Katara, no!"

Katara screamed as she heard her name. They jerked forward and she heard the sound of splashing. Katara jerked along with the car. It seemed to be rolling every which way and she couldn't interpret up or down anymore.

Everything was blurred in a rush of speed and adrenaline as Katara jerked forward yet again, colliding her head with the dashboard. She could hardly remember anything else before she passed out.

* * *

_Author's Note: So, the Author's Note was longer than the actual story, but I couldn't extend the first chapter any more without senselessly babbling. I feel like I still do that at some parts, but I wanted to let the reader know what kind of world the kids are living in. I'm sorry I made them so old! I didn't want to make them that old, but I had to in order to make it legal for Aang to drive. Yes, he had to be the one driving. No, I don't know why. Maybe I'll figure it out later. I'm still kinda foggy on the plot, which is a bad idea for me since now I'm writing it, but it'll come to me. I just felt bad for casting my idea into the shadows for so long. Oh, and I was really at a crossroads because there was a triple tie in my pole for the name of the fanfic. They were all the good names that I was seriously considering, so the pole didn't exactly help. -.- I decided on Love Is Blind in the end, because... I dunno. I was going to do eeny-meeny-miny-mo (Or however the heck you spell it) but then I just decided on that title... YAYZ to everyone (the two people) who suggested that! ^^_

_R&R PLZ_


	2. The Darkness

_Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who replied on the first chapter! I'm really excited to be starting an independent fan fiction that is not entirely based off the the show. I hope you guys enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! :)_

* * *

Katara moaned. Her head was burning intensely with the biggest migraine of her life. In fact, her whole body felt like she had just run a marathon. She tried to think back to what would have put her body in this condition.

_Hm, what? Oh right, the swim meet, _she reminded herself.

She tried to think back to the event, but no matter how much she strained her mind, she could not remember it.

_I wonder what happened. Well, considering the condition my body is in, I better have won._

Slowly, Katara opened her eyes.

At least, she thought she did.

_Is this a dream or something? Where are the walls? What is this place? I can't see anything!_

Katara searched wherever she was for the slightest hint of light, but she soon found there was none.

Katara growled in frustration. Where was everything? She felt like she was lying on something. She ran her fingers through the material. It was soft and sort of wrinkled… a bed? She sat up… and hit her head on something.

"Ah!" Katara felt as if her head split open and she immediately sat her head back on what she supposed was her pillow.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Then she opened them again. Nothing. She rubbed her eyelids. Still, a sheet of blackness obscured her vision.

She lifted her hands up and felt around, thinking that there might be some type of black blanket surrounding her or something. But she could not see her hands. They impacted with some sort of round object floating above her. She felt around it, and it moved a little like it was suspended in midair.

Katara was growing panicked, and she wondered if there was anybody at all around her.

"Hello?" she asked timidly, blushing. "Where am I?"

She suddenly became very aware of the sound of murmuring in the distance. She heard sirens from far away and a continuous beeping sound very close by. Her head felt compressed and she realized that there was something wrapped around it, as well as various other places on her body. She felt a long tube extending into her neck, and when she squeezed it with her fingers she found it difficult to breathe. There was shuffling of feet and the sound of machines running and the whole place reeked of disinfectant and old people.

Katara widened her eyes. _Is this a hospital?_

Her mind raced and she suddenly remembered the previous events that took place.

"Aang! Are you there? Can you hear me?" she shouted, hoping Aang could hear.

She heard loud talking somewhere before it all became hushed. The squeaking sound of brand-new shoes was heard before Katara heard someone close by call her by her name. However, she did not recognize the voice.

"What?" she asked cautiously.

"I'm Dr. Carney from the Manhattan Hospital. You were involved in a fatal car accident."

Katara looked every which way, trying to locate the voice, find the person who sounded like he was just feet from her.

"I know," she replied coldly, giving up on her search. Instead, she sternly stared straight ahead, at what she supposed was the ceiling.

"Well, Miss Katara," the man continued, sounding nervous. "It seems you have hit your head on something very hard. You've gained a concussion. Somebody called the 911 right away after seeing two cars swerve off the road, one with you in it. Help came just in time, the windows had caved in to the water pressure, and you almost drowned."

Katara swallowed. That was not easy news to hear. Her favorite element had almost been her demise.

"You're in pretty bad condition. Your stress levels were causing great damage to your body, you had a lot of water in your lungs and you could barely breathe, your body was greatly impacted by the crash, and your concussion was off the charts. We weren't sure at first what we could do, but your family told us you were a fighter—and you made it."

Katara's heart dropped. Her family had seen her like this—whatever this looked like she wasn't sure but it sure didn't feel like it looked too attractive.

"And one more thing you probably already noticed… the concussion damaged the section of your brain that allows vision, so… you're blind."

Katara's world stopped. That explained why she couldn't see anything. The whole world was going on around her and she couldn't see it. She felt like she wasn't part of the world and she was just listening to it all go on around her wishing she could be part of it. This wasn't happening to her. It couldn't be happening to her!

"No, no, no! You're lying. This isn't funny. Why is everything black? I'm going to get it back right?" Katara couldn't separate her thoughts and blurted out everything that was on her mind at once.

The doctor coughed. He sounded young and inexperienced. His voice was kind of high-pitched for a male and he didn't sound like the brave, heroic person that Katara had always pictured when she thought about doctors. This man couldn't seriously save lives, could he?

"Well," he explained. "If our statistics are correct, you should regain some of your eye-sight, but not much. All you will be able to see is blurs of colors… you'd be legally blind. I'm sorry."

Katara's heart dropped. Well, at least it was better than nothing.

"How long will it take until that happens?" she licked her lips, her whole throat felt dry.

The doctor paused, which made Katara feel uneasy.

"Six to eight months."

Katara nodded stoically. She wasn't sure if the doctor saw it or not.

An awkward silence filled the room. Katara heard the doctor breathing heavily.

"Um, well then… I'll just… get… going…" the doctor stuttered. Katara heard the sound of cloth ruffling and she imagined what awkward movement the young man must be making.

She heard the doctor's retreating footsteps.

"Wait!" she cried out desperately, but she didn't think he heard her.

Katara sighed, frustrated. She was so confused.

"Yes?" she heard the shy voice of the doctor ask.

Katara jumped. She didn't even notice the doctor come in! She thought he hadn't heard her…

"Um, well, I was just wondering… is there something right above my head?" Katara asked.

There was a pause. "Uh… why do you ask?"

Katara shook her head. "Long story… is there?"

Another pause resonated. "…Have you ever seen the lights that dentists use?"

Katara thought back to her dentist's appointments and how they always shone a light in her face so that they could get a better look at her teeth. She nodded.

"…Well, it's kind of like that."

"Oh," was all that Katara could say.

The doctor left again. Katara slumped even more into her pillow and huffed. She reached her hands out and felt the light above her, now realizing that it was attached to something at the top. She understood why it moved around a lot, now.

A few seconds later, the doctor came in again.

"Miss Katara?" he asked.

"Argh!" Katara shouted out involuntarily, quickly letting go of the light above her and laying her hands by her sides. "What do you want now?"

"I just wanted to let you know that your family will be coming tomorrow. We just called them and let them know that you are awake." The doctor sounded confused.

"Oh," Katara said dumbly. "Hey, can you tell me something?"

"What is it?"

"How is Aang doing?"

"What are you talking about?" the doctor asked.

"The boy that was in the car with me," Katara stated.

"I don't know what you mean," the doctor told her.

"What are you talking about?" Katara sounded angry. "What kind of hospital is this?"

"Miss Katara, please do not be upset!" The man pleaded with Katara. "It says here that you were the only one in the car."

Katara sat up. This time, she made sure to push the light aside before doing so.

"No, that's not possible."

"The only other person that came in here after the crash was the woman in the other car. She left weeks ago, she wasn't hurt badly. She was pretty secretive, didn't really tell us anything. Did you know her?"

"No," Katara replied bluntly.

"If you wish, I can speak with the police that saved you," the doctor suggested.

"Yes, I'd like that very much," Katara said, barely able to contain her rage, "and when you do, tell them that they missed one."

When Katara was sure that the doctor had left, she let one tear slip past her cheek... then another... then another. Soon, the tears were cascading down her cheeks relentlessly—like a never-ending waterfall. Sobs ripped out of her chest as despair surged through her entire body. She wrapped her arms around her knees and cried for Aang, her blindness, and for all the misfortune suddenly thrusted at her.

_Aang, where are you?_

* * *

_Author's Note: I love being cliff-hangery. :D It's what makes this world that much more fun for me... Pretty much every single chapter in this is going to be a cliff-hanger since I'm in control now! I am not forced to obey plot of the show, I can bend this plot to my will! It feel good...  
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that lots of people review! I also hope that there weren't any grammar/spelling errors that I've missed. -.- I re-read the last chapter after I posted it and I realized that I spelled "drive" wrong. *phails* Seriously, I spelled it "driv". How come the spell check didn't pick up on that? I hate errors. -.- I re-read it plenty of times, trust me. I write it, save it, get back to it later, before I start writing it again I re-read it so that it isn't obvious that you can tell where I stopped working on it and started up again, then once I'm finished, I re-read it again, add it as a document on here, read it again, then post it... then I re-read it again later after I post it and those errors have STILL eluded me. -.- I try guys, trust me.  
R&R Peace out._


	3. The Compromise

_Author's Note: I just thought I'd stop being lazy and post this. Sorry to keep you all waiting. This was a tricky chapter to put together... hope it doesn't sound too cheesy or unrealistic._

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"Katara!"

Katara was startled by arms suddenly wrapping around her neck—a little too tightly in fact, and she clawed at them to get them off.

"Sokka?" she asked. She could recognize that scratchy, excited voice anywhere.

"Yeah!" she could almost hear him grinning, "How are you doing?"

"Good," Katara smiled, "I didn't even notice you walk into the room, though."

An awkward silence suddenly enveloped them, broken by a stifled cough.

"So, how are you doing with that?"

"Dad?" Katara recognized the voice. She tried to stare in the direction of the voice, but she wasn't entirely sure of where it came from.

"Yeah, we're all here, Katara," came the unmistakable voice of Toph.

Katara smiled as all of her friends offered an awkward hello to her. There was Haru, Zuko, Teo, The Duke, and Pipsqueak also there in the room.

"You guys are all the best for coming here," she told them all gratefully.

"Katara, I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Sokka's voice from right next to her explained.

Katara raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You're just staring into space!" Sokka complained. "It's kind of freaking me out!"

"What's wrong with that, _Sokka_?" Toph asked smartly.

Sokka sounded panicked, "Ah, nothing! It looks okay with you, just not Katara! Her eyes look kind of duller, and at least _you_knowwhere people are in the room, she's looking nowhere near us!"

Katara's face turned a deep red. She must look horrible now, and she thought she _was_ looking at them. Apparently she was wrong.

"You can shut up now, Snoozles," Toph told Sokka.

"Oh, right…" Sokka's voice trailed off until he was speaking inaudibly. "So, Katara, does anything hurt?"

Katara pretended to laugh. "Yeah, but I'll be fine."

"That was some crash," she heard her father say. He tried to sound fine, but the pain in his voice made Katara's throat tighten.

"Really, Dad, I'm fine."

There was silence again.

"Well," Haru coughed, "We all made you get well cards. We knew you wouldn't be able to read them, so we poked holes in it to make brail!"

Katara smiled appreciatively. "Thanks, but you know I can't read brail."

"Well, maybe someday when you can you'll be able to look back on these," The Duke laughed.

Katara laughed too, "Yeah, maybe." Her voice became serious again, "But I'll get my eyesight back someday, you know."

Another awkward silence consumed the room.

"Katara," her dad explained. "I'm not sure how much information you got from the doctors, but your eyesight isn't going to be that good. You'll be—"

"Legally blind, I know," Katara growled.

Her father coughed, "Okay, then."

She heard some people shift uncomfortably. Why was it so awkward to be in a room with close friends and family? There was something on their minds that was causing these silences, and Katara took a wild guess at what it was. She was going to have to discreetly lure herself into the conversation that was itching at everyone's minds.

"So…how long was I out for?" Katara asked firstly.

"Um, about a month," Sokka was the one to answer.

"A little less than that," Pipsqueak chimed in.

Katara nodded. There was no way she could avoid the subject—she ran out of things to say except for one vital thing.

"Did you guys get any information about Aang?"

That was all it took. That one question and the whole entire room was enveloped in the biggest of the awkward silences Katara had ever been in. She wondered where the friendliness had gone.

"Katara, Aang couldn't be found," Zuko explained.

Katara huffed, "I know _that_, but they said they sent out a search team!"

"They…did…but they still couldn't find him," Zuko replied.

"That's impossible!" Katara shouted. "He's in there! He definitely is! He was…the last thing I ever saw."

Katara remembered. Just before she passed out, she looked over to Aang in the driver's seat.

"He was definitely there," she announced in a determined voice.

Her father sighed. "But he isn't now," she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Katara, Aang is… probably dead."

She heard a few sniffles around the room. They were crying. It was like they had already given up on him. She wasn't crying. Not a single tear dropped on her cheek as her head rose up in the general direction of her dad's face in disbelief.

"He's _not _dead," she told him.

"How do you know?" her father sounded tired.

"How do _you_ know he's dead?" she snapped back.

Her father sighed. The hand on her shoulder was removed.

"Katara, you guys fell in the water," he explained. "If Aang's still in there, he can't breathe anymore."

"What if he's not in there?" Katara asked.

"…Well then, where would he be?" her father tried to fight reason into her, but she refused to belief.

"…I don't know," she admitted. "But I _do_ know he's out there."

Her father sighed again. "Katara, you must be tired. Have some sleep, it would do you well. Maybe it will clear your head a little."

Katara's anger rose. "What, so I'll start speaking some sense? Dad, I know Aang's out there somewhere! I can… I can feel it!"

"Katara, don't be so naïve. We all wish our lost ones were still out there. Don't you think I'm upset? Don't you think Sokka is, Toph is, or Zuko is? Don't you think that I wish your mother were still out there sometimes?"

Katara's chest ached. Her mother had died on 9/11 almost eight years ago. She bowed her head.

Her father's voice softened. "We'll see you tomorrow."

She heard retreating footsteps, some murmuring, and then silence.

A single teardrop fell from Katara's eye, followed by another.

"Katara?"

She jumped. She was so _sick_ and _tired_ of not knowing when people were there!

"What Toph?"

Toph sighed. "Katara, I can only imagine how hard this must be for you. I was born blind, so it's a whole different story…"

"Toph, you're the last person I'd expect sympathy from."

Toph huffed. "Do you want me to finish or not?" She sounded angry—impatient.

"Fine, sorry," Katara muttered.

"Do you know how I see?" Toph asked.

Katara lifted her head, "No, but there must be some way. Toph, you're the best all-around player in school! Is there some technique that you use to see?"

"That's what I was _going to tell you_," Toph sighed exasperatedly.

"Sorry," Katara smiled smugly. "Are you going to teach me how to see?"

"Sort of," Toph explained, "More like teach you how to look at the world in a different way. I'm not sure if it'll work for you. We'll have to see, and you'll have to try really hard."

"I'm willing to do anything," Katara told her.

"Good, that's the attitude," Toph said.

"…Toph?" Katara asked apprehensively.

"Hmm?"

"Do you believe me?"

"About what?" Toph asked.

"About Aang," Katara replied, "Still being out there."

"Oh," Toph replied. "Umm…"

"Toph, I just want to know. Your decision isn't going to change my mind, though. Please train me so I can find him."

"Hey, Sugar Queen, I'm not gonna lie. Your idea sounds really, _really_ far-fetched."

Katara bowed her head.

"But if it's something you really believe in, I'm not gonna stop you."

Katara lifted her head again and smiled. "Thanks, Toph."

"Yeah," Toph said sheepishly. "And I don't trust you on your own. I know that you'll go crazy looking for him, so I'll come with you to wherever you're going."

"Thanks Toph, but I don't need help."

Toph laughed. "Oh _yes_ you do."

Katara laughed a little, too.

"So, where are you planning on going?" Toph inquired.

"The city," Katara replied.

"What!?" Toph yelled. "And you thought you were going to be fine on your _own_? Katara this is New York City we're talking about! You're insane you know that?"

"Desperate is the correct term for it," Katara replied. "Toph, I _need_ to do this."

"Katara, I think you lost it. You are the most determined person I've _ever_met." Toph explained, "But I got your back. This could be an interesting adventure."

Katara smiled. "For a second I thought you were going to change your mind about coming with me."

"Me too, but I'm a girl of my word Katara, and I'll try my best to bite my tongue."

Katara smiled. "I appreciate it."

"Of course you do," Toph responded. "Now get some sleep, just like your dad said. I'll see you when you feel better."

Katara nodded. "See you around."

With that, Katara listened to Toph's retreating footsteps. Smiling, she lay down in bed and pulled the sheets up to her neck. She leaned to her side and closed her eyes tightly, hardly able to control her happiness.

_Toph believes me. She's going to help me. I'm going to be able to see again…_

* * *

_Author's Note: A few things...  
1.) I had a little too much fun with the italics in this chapter. -.-  
2.) Sorry I made Katara's Dad so mean. I tries to just make it sound like he cares so much for her that he's harsh, but it didn't come through. That's the reason why he's like that, though.  
3.) Just so you know, the compromise is that Toph will teach Katara how to see in exchange that she gets to come with her.  
4.) I believe that Katara's mom, in the series, had died three years previously, right? Since she was fourteen that would have made her eleven, right? Gosh, probably not since Katara looked five in the flashbacks. Well, anyways, if I did my math correctly (which I probably didn't -.-) than the Twin Towers should have crashed when she was eleven. If not, than just pretend she was eleven when her mom died.  
5.) Sorry for all the lame dialogue.  
That is all! ^^ I'm going back to school tomorrow, so I won't be able to work on this again for a while. *groans* Please enjoy!_


	4. The Sacrifice

_Author's Note: Very sorry for the prolonged delay! My inspiration came back, THANK GOD, I thought it never would! I was pleased to see there was still an Avatar population out there! Such a good show like this doesn't deserve it's fan base to die out so quickly. So, hopefully, there is still a LOVE IS BLIND POPULATION. This is going to be an "action-y" fiction, trust me! It gets better... hopefully. _ Let me just let you know one thing before we begin, so your not confused:_

_In this AU that I created, it is kind of like the world we live in but there is one thing different: the elements. There are no benders, but when people reach a certain age, they attach themselves to one of the four elements in a ritual. Usually, families have a certain element that is passed down through generations, but there are some who choose the element best suited to themselves. It is possible to switch elements in another ritual of reattachment (one cannot detach themselves from an element completely. There must be another element to attach to.) however this is a taboo. You will find out more about it throughout this story, but this is the basis. Enjoy your read! ^^_

* * *

Katara was due out of the hospital on Thursday, June 18, 2009. Today was that day.

The nurses had checked her over one last time before announcing she was as good as she was going to get and sent her on her way. Her father had been there to pick her up, and the whole car was filled with as much of her friends as they could fit in there. Katara was happy to see them all again, but was hesitant to get back into a car again.

"Uh, guys you know that's the reason why I'm now blind."

"Katara, Dad's not going to get in an accident. That's just what you get for driving with a kid who just got his license." Sokka pointed out skeptically through the open window of the front seat.

Katara smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Well for a kid who just got his license, he certainly has a better car than you!"

She laughed. She was glad no one was treating her differently because of the crash. She didn't want them to pity her—it would only be awkward. Right now, she just wanted to pretend things were normal, or as normal as they would get in a world of darkness. Right now, she just wanted to forget.

"_Has_? Try _had_. That thing is totaled. Have you seen it? Oh, wait, that's right, you can't!"

Katara narrowed her eyes.

"Well, then, I guess your both even. Sokka, you don't even _have_ a car!"

"Don't rub it in!" Sokka whined.

Katara laughed and searched for the handle to the backseat of the car. Once she found it, she opened it and tried to sit down, almost sitting on The Duke.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she apologized, "I didn't know you were there!"

The Duke laughed. "It's okay; I guess that's what I get for stealing the window seat."

Katara smiled and sat down. As she closed the door and buckled up her father started to drive away from the hospital.

The car pulled into the driveway and everyone got out.

"Katara, it's really weird to have to help you around," Sokka explained as he and Hakoda grabbed her elbows and helped her up the stairs. She counted them as she went up so she would know next time when to stop climbing. _1…2…3…4…_

Katara heard the front door open.

"Sugar Queen, your back!"

Katara was startled. _Toph? I didn't even notice she wasn't in the car. I should have known that I didn't hear her voice._

"Toph, it's good to be back! Why are you here? Why didn't you come to pick me up?"

Things got silent.

"Um, well I wanted to wait for you here. I have something to tell you."

"Likewise," Katara responded.

"Hakoda, Sokka, I'll take Katara from here," Toph's scarily-nice voice sounded from right next to her. She felt the hands leave her arms and two calloused, rough ones took their places.

Toph moved too fast. Katara tried to slow her down but Toph kept plowing through the hallways, her arms wrapped around Katara's.

"What, Katara? You don't trust me?"

Katara bit her lip. She guessed this _was_ just like the trust games she used to play when she was a little girl. It wasn't so scary then, though, because everyone always secretly looked and she knew that she could just open her eyes when it was over. No, this was different. More trust was involved than ever.

"Okay, Katara, we're in your room now."

"Really?"

Katara was ashamed to admit she didn't even recognize the homely feel of her own bedroom. She slumped. The whole world was different in the dark.

"Sugar Queen, about our talk at the hospital," Toph started.

Katara straightened up. She remembered her goal, her promise to Aang.

"You're going to teach me, right? Now?" Katara sounded eager.

"Yes Katara, I'll teach you. No, not now. Not until we get a few things straightened out, first."

Katara nodded.

"A lot of sacrifice will need to be made, Katara, in order to see with the mind and not with the eyes."

Katara looked confused. "See with the mind? What kind of sacrifices."

"First of all, your element."

Katara gaped. "Give up my attachment to water? No!"

"Hey, look Sugar Queen, don't do it if you don't want to!" Toph snapped. "Go around happy and blind and whatever, but I know that you have more determination than _that._ If you truly believe Aang's out there, something like this isn't going to stop you."

Katara averted her eyes. "But… what do I need to reattach myself to?"

"Earth," Toph replied.

"Why earth? Why is this sacrifice necessary?"

"Earth is the element of substance. It is solid, unlike water, and you need to become one with it if you are going to be seeing with it."

"I'll be seeing… with the earth?"

"Yes, Katara! Why do you keep asking so many questions?" Toph sounded exasperated.

"Sorry," Katara offered weakly.

"Okay," Toph said, satisfied. "Now, that itself will take time. Your second sacrifice is… your shoes."

Katara wrinkled her nose. "What? Am I going to offer them up to the god of fashion in return for "mind-seeing"?" She laughed.

"No," Toph replied sullenly. "Are you going to take this seriously? You were so doom-and-gloom at the hospital, and now your Miss Comedian."

"I'm just glad to see my friends again, okay? And I'm thinking a little more optimistically now, since you're going to help me see again!"

Toph laughed. "Good ole' 'glass half-full' Sugar Queen is back. Okay, well shoes just get in the way. They are what keep you from connecting with the earth, so they're a no-go."

Katara nodded. "Got it, anything else?"

"Not for now. But, I'm letting you know now, the type of seeing that I'm offering you is even more powerful than what you have previously known. You can read people… and I mean you can really tell if they're lying, tell their every move, even before they make it, and you can sense their emotions. This kind of power, Sugar Queen, is given to people like us, the people who everyone believes is 'less fortunate'. Believe me, Katara; you'll be better off than them."

Katara felt a rush of excitement surge through her veins.

"Wow, Toph, you're so incredible! How have you kept this a secret all these years?"

"I know, I _am_pretty incredible!" Toph boasted.

Katara smiled. "So, when will I learn?"

"Tomorrow," Toph decided. "I'll give you a day of rest, first. Then, we'll do the reattachment."

Katara felt herself get nervous. How could she possibly commit such a thing? She wished she had chosen earth instead of water when it had came the time, but how she loved water so! Earth seemed so… rugged. She did not want it to be her element, but it had to be.

"Then," Toph continued. "We'll toughen up your feet." Katara could practically hear her smiling. "Those dainty little things won't stand a chance in the real world unless we do something about them."

Katara gulped. _Sacrifices indeed…_

"After all that I'll start teaching you the fine art of seeing with the mind… and feet!"

"Feet, too?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, mostly feet, and then you use your mind to interpret what you feel."

"I'm not sure if I can do this," Katara admitted. "It just all seems too… miraculous."

"Well, believe it, Sugar Queen, because it's real."

* * *

_Author's Note: Okay, so hopefully that wasn't too confusing... or boring. I find it really hard to write in Katara's perspective. I try to put as much emotions into people's sounds as I can, since I can't say when a person is smiling or putting their hands on their hips or raising their eyebrows or narrowing their eyes or anything else I could use to express emotion. And I can't describe thing's appearances, either. It's kind of difficult and can make for an uninteresting read if not handled properly. And, I'm sorry if the ending seems abrupt, but it just seemed like a good place to end it. And, there is a new poll in my profile. Please check it out because it could really affect the quality of my writing. I apologize for any mistakes you may have noticed._

_I'm looking forward to reading your comments! ^^ Next chapter will be up as soon as my inspiration calls me!_


	5. The Ritual

_Author's Note: I'm sorry for the long wait just for a short chapter! I skipped through a lot of the dialogue to try and make this chapter as interesting as possible, but there's no denying it... this will be the most boring out of all the chapters that I will have. There will be approximately 15-16 chapters in this. And this is the worst. Sorry guys, just bear with it, it was torture to write, too. That would explain the long wait. It's boring... but essential. Anyway, thank you so much for the support/reviews/watches/favs/whatever... Enjoy. ...or not..._

* * *

Toph set the last candle on the last table. The windows were closed, the door was shut and all electricity in the room was turned off and unplugged. Candles and tables of all sizes circled the room. In the center forming a square was a rock, a bowl of water, a set of matches next to another burning candle, and a tiny battery operated fan. These represented the elements earth, water, fire, and air.

The ritual was ready.

"Katara, it's done," Toph pointed out.

Katara sighed. "Yeah, I know."

The two of them sat in the circle and began meditating.

"Are you ready?" Toph asked.

"Yeah," Katara breathed, her eyes closed.

"Then let's begin. First, pick up the element that you had been previously attached to."

Katara reached to the middle and picked up the bowl of water.

"Hold it in your left hand," Toph instructed. "Now take up your new element…"

Katara reached for the piece of earth, her heart pounding…

_This is it…_

* * *

Katara sighed… _again._

"Sugar Queen, are you sure you're alright with this?" Toph asked.

Katara smiled weakly. "Yeah, I need to do this. I'm just getting used to my new earth attachment."

Toph snorted. "Good, then let's begin."

"What are we going to do first?" Katara asked.

"Well, first I'm going to teach you how to actually feel vibrations through the earth. This way you can sense when people are coming before they even do. You can feel where objects are and which ones are alive or not. And when you get used to the different vibrations, you'll be able to figure out which is which. For example, I know there is a lamp over there."

Katara supposed Toph was pointing somewhere, but she didn't know where since she couldn't see. However, she did know there was a lamp in her bedroom.

"And I know it's obviously not living because there is no heart pounding. Plus, I know you're Katara, because you have your own distinct vibrations. Luckily, the easiest person to spot vibrations from is Twinkle-Toes, since he has such light and unique vibrations. So, if we look for him, he should be relatively easy to find once we get to the right area."

Katara nodded, but wasn't sure if vibrations could sense that or not.

"Okay, in order to feel vibrations, we need to meditate."

"Is that how you were able to feel them?"

"No," Toph said bluntly. "But you're a newbie, I was well-trained by that point."

"Oh," was Katara's only answer.

"Good, now let's sit." Toph instructed.

Katara did as she was told. For the second time that day, she sat down on the ground and closed her eyes (not that it mattered).

"Now, Katara," Toph began from next to her. "The trick to feeling vibrations with the earth is to become one with it."

Toph continued to coach Katara in the ways of seeing with the feet and mind. She listened dutifully and followed the instructions precisely. Katara's determination enabled her to catch on quickly, and even Toph was impressed when she was able to walk around the house without bumping into anything within the first couple of hours. Her family was shocked, too. Hakoda was the first to comment.

"Katara, how are you doing that?"

"Isn't it amazing, Dad?" Katara asked excitedly. "Toph taught me! I can see again! Well… sort of…"

"But, I thought you were blind!" Sokka exclaimed, obviously in awe.

"Yeah, but I'm able to feel the vibrations in the earth! I can find my way around perfectly fine—even better than you guys!"

Katara's newfound sense of "sight" wasn't the only thing she gained. By losing one sense, another heightened and she was able to acutely hear everything that was going on around her. This way, she was able to hear her brother mutter, "Incredible" under his breath.

"So, everybody else went home?" Katara asked, beaming. "I can tell because I don't feel their vibrations!"

"Now you're just bragging!" Toph laughed.

Katara pouted. "Well, that's too bad; I wanted to memorize their vibrations so I can identify them when I see them again."

"There will be another time for that," Hakoda said solemnly.

Katara raised an eyebrow. "Anything wrong, Dad?"

Katara felt Hakoda shake his head.

_So you CAN tell is someone is shaking or nodding their head!_

"It's nothing, Katara," Hakoda confirmed.

"Well, okay then," Katara said. "Well, guys, I'm a new me! How about we celebrate with ice-cream!"

"YEAH!" Sokka shouted immediately upon hearing the word 'ice-cream'.

"Nuh-uh-uh, Katara!" Toph interjected. "We still have some more training to do!"

"Still?" Katara pouted.

"Yes," Toph said sternly, grabbing her by the collar and dragging her across the floor. "Now, come on, we have a lot of work to do if we're going to start looking for Aang tomorrow."

"WHAT!?" Hakoda yelled from the kitchen.

Both girls froze. Toph let go of Katara's collar and Katara stumbled to her feet.

"N-Nothing, Dad! We didn't say anything!" Katara shouted back.

There was silence for a while, before they heard a quieter response.

"Well, okay then!"

The girls relaxed for a minute.

"Come on," Toph whispered, walking them both back into Katara's bedroom where the training continued for a great portion of the rest of their night.

* * *

_Author's Note: Boring... short... poorly written... I'm so sorry, guys, I'm ashamed of this chapter, but I needed to get it out of the way, and time was getting away. I'm getting really busy now... I have a chapter fic to update here, a comic to update on deviantART, and not to mention personal matters... I've been really busy and stressed lately... Oh, and I'm going on vacation next week so don't expect an update anytime soon. And thanks to everyone who took my poll, I appreciate it. :) And... I tried to remind myself to use Sugar Queen and Twinkle-Toes whenever Toph said their names, but I didn't want to over do it and have her say Sugar Queen ALL the time, so I know I have her say Katara and Aang, but I don't care. Those are just nicknames that she doesn't have to use all the time._


	6. The Journey

_Author's Note: I'm back from vacation! I worked really hard on this chapter when I got back, so I hope you guys enjoy it! And I am proud to announce that I have finally finished the summary! This story is so complicated for me I had to write a summary for it on a separate document. It took me a really long to finish, about a month, but I finally know how it's going to end! I'm so excited, it's going to be a thriller! This would make such a great action movie haha. I can't wait for you all to read it! And I was re-reading the chapters up to this one... so many mistakes that I didn't catch. -.- Sorry. Plus, I accidentally said that Zuko was their friend, but that was a mistake. He's not. Kay? ^^ Just forget that part. Now, on with the story! Thank you to everyone who commented on this so far, me loves you! _

* * *

Katara woke up in a sweat.

She panted heavily, recovering from her dream. She had dreamt that she had found Aang, except she was wrong, he wasn't alive, and her surroundings crumbled. She closed her eyes, not that it mattered, but it somehow still held a source of comfort that helped her escape from the world and control her emotions.

That dream had become a reoccurring appearance at night. But no longer would she have to wait. Her body was itching to begin searching, she felt idle not doing anything. Every second she spent at home was another second Aang's life could be closer to being lost.

Katara threw off her covers and stepped onto the floor. Her training was complete; Toph had taught her well. She could see even better than ever. She, for example, knew that her brother and dad were already up, and that they were at the breakfast table. She knew that her neighbor was walking his dog outside, and that the mailman was coming around the corner.

Katara walked out of her room and stretched. She walked into the kitchen. Sokka was chewing on some sugary cereal, no doubt, and Hakoda was sipping coffee, waiting patiently for the mail to arrive. When Katara entered the kitchen, his demeanor changed. He seemed tense and upset. He set the coffee mug down.

"Katara, I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to wake up," he said in a pseudo-cheery tone.

Katara cocked her head. "Why? What time is it?"

"10 o'clock," Sokka sputtered with a mouthful of cereal.

"It is?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, you never sleep that late," Sokka pointed out, swallowing his food.

"It's because I haven't been sleeping well lately," Katara explained, putting a hand to her forehead.

"Would this be because of Aang?" Hakodaasked in a low tone.

Katara didn't respond. Her hand fell off her forehead and she straightened up, arching an eyebrow. Her heart started beating faster.

"Katara," Hakoda sighed. "I just thought I'd let you know that his funeral will be in a couple of days…"

"No!" Katara shouted involuntarily, and moved to cover her mouth. _No, I need to tell dad. I need to tell him my plan… _

She recovered by pretending to wipe her chin, and then began again. "I mean, I don't really believe he's…"

"Not this again," Hakoda sounded exasperated. "Katara, I thought that was just hospital-talk. The pain-killers were getting to you or something… Aang's dead, there's no doubt about it. Please don't make this harder than it has to be. Denial is the first step towards heart-break…"

"No, Dad! He can't be dead! I'm going-"

"Katara, listen! If they can't find his body in time we decided we would put something valuable to him in the coffin. We were thinking his staff…"

"Dad, no! Please don't, he's not dead! That is his favorite thing, I can't just let you bury it…"

"He has no use for it anymore! What should we bury, then? Rocks?"

Sokka watched as his two family members battled back and forth, neither of them getting anywhere. All the yelling started to get to him and his face scrunched up.

"Alright, guys! Enough! What, are you both five? Why not try to get each other's perspective on this situation?"

"Sokka, stay out of this," Hakoda warned.

Katara crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue.

"Katara, stop acting childish," Hakoda snapped at her.

Katara ignored this. "Toph's here," she announced.

The next moment the doorbell rang, and Sokka glared at Katara's smug expression.

"Show off," he chimed as she bounced out of the room.

"Toph, you're here!" Katara exclaimed excitedly, hugging her friend.

Toph smiled weakly.

"Did you tell you father?"

Katara's excited demeanor faded. "Well, I tried to…"

Toph frowned. "I told you I didn't want to be here for the fight."

Katara huffed. "Well, you kind of walked right into it."

"What?" Toph asked surprised as Katara led her into the kitchen.

"Toph," Hakoda greeted amiably. "What brings you here in the morning?"

Toph shifted uncomfortably. "Um… well… you see…"

"Toph and I are going to search for Aang," Katara announced.

Hakoda was shocked. Sokka's spoon fell out of his mouth.

"WHAT?" Hakoda yelled.

"Where?" Sokka asked, critically raising an eyebrow.

"You heard me," Katara sassed, hands on her hips. "We're searching for him in New York City."

Hakoda exploded.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? DO YOU JUST EXPECT THAT TWO YOUNG GIRLS ARE GOING TO WALTZ INTO NEW YORK CITY LOOKING FOR A DEAD BOY AND JUST LEAVE UNHARMED? HOW ARE YOU GOING TO GET THERE? WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO START? WHAT LEADS DO YOU HAVE? WHEN ARE YOU JUST GOING TO START THINKING REASONABLY?"

Katara flinched. "I'm not entirely sure where we're going to start. But I just know he's there. In all my dreams…"

"Dreams? Katara, this is _reality_. Stop being so immature and face the facts—_Aang is dead._"

Katara held back her tears. "Dad, just let me do this. The train station is only a few miles away. Toph and I are going to walk there and then head into the city…"

"_The train station_? Katara, this is crazy talk. Just go to your room. Toph, I think you should leave."

Toph shifted towards Katara, but made no move to leave.

Katara took in a deep breath. "No, Dad. You always told me to follow my heart, and I am. If we can't find Aang, I'll accept that he's dead. But I can't live with myself without trying first. If I can't find him in one week, I'll come back. I promise."

Toph gaped.

"No," Hakoda said sternly. "Katara, go to your room."

Katara inched closer to Toph. She grasped her wrist from behind her back. Toph perked up, knowing what Katara was thinking.

Katara's eyes watered. "I'm sorry, Dad."

The next moment, Katara was fleeing out the open door, Toph at her heels. Seconds later, realization hit Hakoda and he sprinted out the door.

Sokka sat at the kitchen table, milk dribbling off his chin as he gaped, mouthful of cereal.

Katara ran faster than she ever had in her life.

"GET BACK HERE!" Hakoda warned.

"Katara, what are you thinking?" Toph gasped. "You're dad's going to catch up to us!"

"I'm playing by ear!" Katara shouted back.

She squeezed her eyes shut, not needing them open while running anymore. She tried to think of something. Her father was gaining, and fast. She knew full well that she might never be welcomed back into her house ever again. Why was she doing this again, anyway? Her priorities were all messed up. Family or first love? She just hoped she was making the right decision, and possibly saving a life in the process.

Strong arms grabbed the two girls forcefully by their shoulders. They halted to a stop.

"Dad, please! Let me go! One week, one week! Please, trust me!" Katara struggled out of his grasp.

"One week? Katarado you know what happened to your mother in that city in one _day?_"

Katara stiffened. Tears slipped down her cheeks at the thought.

"Is that what this is all about?" her voice cracked. "You're afraid because of Mom?"

"Katara," Hakoda's voice sounded weak. "That's not all. Cities are a dangerous place to be."

"But we're ready for it, Dad! I've got plenty of money, Toph and I trained for this… why won't you trust us?"  
"What kind of father would I be if I just allowed my daughter and her friend to walk into New York City un-chaperoned? Toph, do your parents even know?"

Toph shrugged. "Technically…"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, they think I'm going to New York City with Katara as some sort of _Girl Scouts _adventure or something. I even faked a permission slip and everything…" Toph smirked. "They _still_ think I'm in _Girl Scouts_."

Hakoda firmed his grip. "No."

"Dad!"

"Where are you going to stay? Huh? Have you even planned anything out?"

"Yes, Dad!" Katara sounded exasperated.

"We're staying at the _Sheraton Hotel_," Toph explained. "You can go places when you have a high-class name like Bei-Fong."

"We'll only be out during daylight hours and we won't stray into any gang areas. We've been there before, I know my way around." Katara pointed out.

Hakoda's grip loosened. Katara smiled. She was getting to him.

"A hotel isn't the only thing Toph's name can get us. We probably will have to barely spend a dime. Spreading the word that a Bei-Fong was using their company is good enough for any manager."

"Plus, as we promised, we'll only be gone a week." Toph piped up.

"And we won't stray into any alleyways," Katara promised.

"And besides, we can see our way around ten times better than anyone else."

"And if we don't find Aang within a week I'll drop the denial like you said I should and accept it."

"And this will be an experience. You have to let your kids grow up sometime, Hakoda."

Hakoda glared at Toph for calling him by his first name.

"You guys won't give this up, will you?" Hakoda sighed.

"Nope," Katara confirmed. "And I'll never be happy if you don't let me go."

"How many times have I heard that one?" Hakoda asked.

"But this time I mean it!"

"And how many times have I heard _that _one!"

"But this is different, Dad!" Katara insisted. "This isn't some doll, or a pony, or an ice-cream. This is a _life_! A real, possibly living, human _life_!"

"Here we go again," Hakoda sighed.

"Dad, _please_!" Katara begged. "Please…"

Katara put on her best sad face. But this time, she really meant it. She hooked onto her father's arm and looked into his face the best she could.

"We're seventeen. You have to let us go sometime," she reasoned.

Hakoda sighed, letting go of the two girls. "One week," he muttered, but Katara heard it.

"THANK YOU!" Katara jumped onto her father. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, _thank you_!"

"But if you two aren't back in exactly a week, I'm calling the police," Hakoda warned.

"Deal," Katara agreed.

"The whole time I'll be worried sick over you," Hakoda admitted.

"I know," Katara smiled. "But that's how every parent reacts to their kids growing up."

Katara kissed her father and said her good-byes. Toph smiled in triumph over Katara's persuading skills.

As Katara and Toph started walking away, they caught Hakoda mumbling, "Sokka never gave me this kind of trouble," but he was smiling. Katara laughed.

Hakoda grew serious. He yelled to the receding figures, "Just don't be disappointed when you don't find anything! I'm only letting you go so you can face your denial! I don't want you to come back with a huge debt over your heads, either! Spend wisely!"

"We will!" Katara yelled back, waving behind her.

When Hakoda's figure finally disappeared, the two girls stopped to cheer for themselves.

"Katara, that was amazing!" Toph praised. "I didn't think you had it in you, but you did!"

"Thank you!" Katara blushed. "I didn't think he was going to buy it for a second!"

"Are you really going to follow all the rules you told him?" Toph asked.

"Of course," Katara replied. "At least I'll try. I would rather not end up dead."

Both girls shuddered.

"But, we're going! We're really going!" Toph cheered.

"Yes, we are!" Katara squealed. "Feels kind of liberating, doesn't it?"

"Definitely," Toph agreed. "A nice break from my condescending parents, at least."

"Oh, I bet," Katara laughed as they continued to walk.

"Well, it's about time, anyway," Toph growled. "I mean, we're almost in college! We need to go alone somewhere _sometime_."

"True," Katara giggled. "And now we are!"

"Yup," Toph nodded. "Now we are."

* * *

The train whistled loudly—the last warning to board.

"Are you ready?" Toph asked Katara.

Katara nodded eagerly and they both stepped onto the vehicle. They found two seats available and took them. The doors closed and a voice came over the speakers. The train lurched to a start and gained speed.

Katara and Toph stared out the windows at the passing scenery, barely speaking. The train stopped numerous times for people to board and un-board, but they had yet to wait for their stop.

"So," Toph started, trying to build up conversation. "Why did you choose New York City, anyway? Isn't it kind of… a random place to start?"

Katara shook her head. "Maybe. But… in all my dreams, I find Aang in New York City. But, he's never… well it never ends happily."

"Do you think that's kind of like a vision or something?" Toph asked.

Katara shrugged. "I sure hope not. Those dreams are distressing enough as it is. I don't think I'd be able to handle it if it were reality."

"But, Katara, you have to face the facts," Toph reasoned. "Aang might just be dead. Or we might not even find him. I mean seriously, only a week to search for someone who disappeared without a trace? You know this probably won't end well."

Katara bowed her head. "I know."

Finally, the train squeaked to a noisy stop at their station.

This had to be the busiest of all the stops they passed. People in business suits and carrying bags bustled by as women in colorful dresses and guitars passed by. (Not that Katara or Toph could see the colors.) There were people of every kind going in every direction. Katara and Toph stepped onto the platform. Instantly they were surrounded by a rush of people that all needed to get from point A to point B as fast as possible. The two girls grabbed each other's shoulders so as to not lose each other in the crowd. They made their way out of the station and onto the busy city streets. So many noises filled Katara's ears. It made her head hurt. A brisk wind blew by her. She heard cell-phones ringing, people talking, cars honking and taxis passing. She heard sirens and music and yelling and footsteps everywhere. Her head started to spin. Her new-found "vision" depended a lot on hearing, and now that she was blind, her hearing ability was amplified. That meant that everything sounded ten times louder to her than it did to everyone else. Toph must have been used to it, but Katara felt nauseous. Vibrations came from every direction, and they all molded together until she couldn't figure out what was living and what wasn't. Her head pounded.

"Katara," a voice rose above all the rest. "Are you ready?"

"Toph," Katara moaned. "I don't… feel good."

"Katara?" Toph asked. "Katara, keep it together, okay? Don't let the bustle of the city get to you! Focus!"

"Toph, I don't think I can do this!" Katara tripped over the curb and Toph grabbed her before she could fall onto the street.

"Don't say that!" Toph snapped. "We came all this way and we're not going back now! Don't give up!"

"Toph, the city is so loud…" Katara complained, becoming woozy.

"Separate the noises! Separate the vibrations! Focus!" Toph demanded.

Katara squeezed her eyes shut in concentration. She tried her best to separate everything. The vibrations were slowly forming into two categories: Living and Non-living. It was a start.

"I think," Katara began. "I think…"

"Don't give up," Toph ordered. "Keep going."

The living vibrations began forming their own heart patterns. Some were heavier than others. She could tell the difference between a man and a woman, a bus and a building. She could separate all the voices and zone into one at a time. She could "see" perfectly again.

"Okay," Katara gasped. "I'm okay."

"Good," Toph released her hand from Katara's shoulder. "Now that's over with."

Katara smiled. "Yeah…"

"I don't want you ever giving up so easily again, okay?" Toph said.

Katara nodded. "I'm sorry."

"Okay, now let's go head to the hotel, okay?" Toph asked. "We'll start the search tomorrow."

Katara agreed.

"Does today count as Day One?" she asked.

Toph shrugged. "How should I know? But we need to get to the hotel now. It's lunchtime, and I'm hungry."

"Yeah," Katara agreed, holding her stomach. "I skipped breakfast."

"Okay, then! Let's get something good!" Toph announced.

Katara laughed and the two shifted their way through the crowds to get to their first destination.

* * *

_Author's Note: Ta-Da! I listened to exactly 61 songs writing and editing this. Appreciate my dedication. Haha Well I hope you enjoy this chapter! Let the drama... BEGIN!! I hope there are no mistakes. -.- I think somehow deletes some of the spaces I make to merge the words together for some reason. Especially when the words are in italics. Anyway, like Katara and Toph, I'm going to get me some lunch! It's 1:30, and I haven't had it yet! I'm the kind of person that likes to eat at 12... hehe anyway thank you to everyone who took my poll! It was much appreciated! I really like to know where my writing needs help. Please comment and fav if you like! Criticism is much appreciated, my writing is obviously not perfect! I'll update again as soon as possible!_

_Yay, longest chapter so far!_


	7. The City

_Author's Note: I'm pretty sure everybody hates me now. I know I took a long time to update, sorry! I've been... busy. -.- Forgive. But I'm back! And I'm here to say... it is sooo hard to write a story without describing appearance! I've had to correct myself numerous times in this chapter alone! So if I accidentally describe something in that sense... tell me, but forgive! D: Oh, and thanks to one very good little reviewer with an excellent question, there will be MOAR SOKKA IN THIS STORY!! :O See, commenting will get you places. :) So, thank you so much ??? (That's literally their name... anonymous writers are made of win. :P) for the awesome point that I can't believe I didn't think of!_

* * *

After checking in at their hotel, Katara and Toph went into their rooms. They had packed light since Katara wasn't sure whether or not she would have to escape in the dead of night in order to come or not. She had honestly expected she would have to, though.

The room was a quaint, two queen suite with a mini-fridge, closet and connected bathroom. A large window took up one whole wall where they could see the majestic view of New York City. Of course, Katara and Toph couldn't enjoy this luxury.

Upon entering, Toph instantly sprinted towards the bed closest to the window and called dibs as she sprung onto it, messing it up right away.

Katara put her hands on her hips. "Why do you want that one so bad?" she asked.

"Window seat, duh!" Toph retorted.

"That's a bed," Katara pointed out.

"Seat, bed, same thing," Toph growled as she almost instantly began dosing off.

"Stay awake," Katara warned as she headed into the bathroom to check out the soap quality. "We're wasting no time."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Toph asked dazedly.

"It _means _that we're heading out as soon as we're done unpacking," Katara explained.

Toph groaned. "Come on, this bed is so comfy!"

"Toph, don't forget what we came here for," Katara reminded her as she sniffed the shampoo. "You, yourself told me not to give up."

Katara headed back into the bedroom where she threw her over-the-shoulder duffel bag onto her bed. Toph grudgingly sat up and stretched.

"Fine," she said. "But only 'cuz I want to find him and get back here to sleep as fast as possible."

"Good enough," Katara smiled as she began putting her clothes in some draws.

* * *

After getting situated the two girls instantly went out on the first stage of their journey. They pretty much approached random people on the street and asked them if they saw Aang around anywhere.

"This feels hopeless," Katara admitted, sighing heavily.

"Remember I told you how far-fetched this sounded in the hospital?" Toph asked.

"Yeah?" Katara responded.

"Well it seems even more so now."

Katara's head dropped. "I know," she whispered.

The first thing that Katara noticed about it was how utterly improbable it all started to seem. In her head it seemed so easy. Like she was just going to walk out into the streets and feel Aang's vibrations. Like he was just going to be part of a passing crowd, walking around aimlessly, and then reassuring Katara that he was waiting for her all this time. Was she expecting someone to have seen him just wandering about? She wasn't sure what she was looking for anymore—a dead body or a living person? But she knew one thing: she was looking for the truth. She wanted to know what had happened. People don't just disappear from sinking cars. His body at least should have been found. That's how Katara knew there was a secret…a secret being kept from her.

The second thing she noticed when she approached people was how strange they acted around her. They acted differently than anyone has ever acted in front of her, and it made her cheeks feel hot and she felt ugly and unbelonging. When she started talking to someone, she could literally feel their intense gaze upon her face, hear the confusion and brutal amazement in their voice, and sense their uncomfortableness around her. She could tell they were treating her more like a lost child than a mature seventeen-year-old girl.

She wanted to yell at all the people who stared at her. _I'm perfectly fine! In fact, I'm better at seeing than you! So stop staring at my eyes like I stole them from some alien and used them as my own!_

Deep down she knew she must look strange. Toph's eyes should have been a pale green color—vibrant and beautiful. But when you looked at Toph, they looked cold and lifeless, like dead eyes. They stared straight ahead and appeared to be able to look through a thousand brick walls when in reality they could see nothing. There was no light in them, like the soul had been sucked out of them. They were faded and intense. Katara tried to depict her own cerulean eyes faded and lifeless, but found it rather difficult. Whenever she tried the picture in her head was too ugly to continue thinking about any longer.

Only one person had treated Katara and Toph normally when they approached her—an old woman who's voice was so sweet and fragile it made Katara think of honey and chocolate. She talked to them just like she was talking to a long lost friend—with eyes and all. It was probable that the woman was so old she simply could not see the blank look in the girls' eyes, but she treated them nicely either way. It felt good to Katara, not having a proper conversation with anyone but Toph since the accident.

* * *

After about four hours of walking around asking for a seemingly random boy amongst the thousand or so people in the city, Katara's and Toph's feet began to ache with such ferocity and Toph's stomach began grumbling so loud that you could hear it from across the street, they decided to head into a restaurant for a well-deserved break.

Both girls were completely silent once inside. Neither of them talked while waiting for a table, and they silently smiled at the waitress when they were seated. Not until after the two had given their orders did Toph speak up.

"What are we going to do after this?"

Katara glanced down, even though there was really no need to. "Go look again, I guess."

Toph's groan was audible throughout the whole restaurant.

"Come on, can't we head back to the hotel? This is supposed to be relaxing! Our first moment of freedom!"

"What's so relaxing about looking for a possibly dead friend?" Katara snapped.

Toph fell silent. Katara turned her head away, as if shunning her. Neither of them spoke again until the food arrived.

Toph toyed with the food on her plate. "You know…when we came here, I never expected to actually find Aang," she croaked.

Katara stiffened but did not say a word. She was afraid if she opened her mouth she may accidentally scream.

"The moment I heard about the accident, I instantly thought both of you were dead. I was so sad, but when I heard you were still alive, and you had chances of making it, you know what I did?"

The question was rhetorical. Katara didn't bother to answer.

"I laughed," Toph said. "I laughed so hard at the thought of Sugar Queen toughing out something like that. And you know what I thought after that?"

Again, Katara didn't reply. She had already abandoned her fork and simply sat, clutching at the seat cushion.

"If only Twinkle Toes could have made it," Toph voiced her thoughts. "But then the doctors told me you were the only one in the car, and I knew it wasn't right. I told them, but they insisted it was only you. I was so confused, but I thought that maybe Aang was busy and let you just borrow his car. Deep down I knew I was only making excuses, but I forced myself to believe them."

Katara placed her elbows on the table and dug her nails into her scalp, not knowing whether or not she wanted to hear this information.

"When Aang didn't come home that night, his foster dad, Gyatso, called us. We got the police involved and everything. They couldn't find him. They told us that kids his age run away all the time, and that he'd show up in a couple days when he realizes he needs food. Again, something didn't feel right, but I made myself believe them. We all did."

Tears welled up in Katara's eyes. This is what had gone on while she was unconscious. The story was tearing right through her, and she knew what happened next.

"Then you finally woke up. You determined that Aang was really with you in the car, and everyone's thread that was holding them together just broke. We had all been hanging on to the fragile possibility that Aang had simply run away for some inexplicable reason. None of us knew what happened to him, but all of us made the final resolve that he as dead, gone. I think that's what made your father so edgy."

Katara finally picked up her fork and began prying at her food. Her head still hung low so nobody could see her crying silently.

"Then, after we all got used to the painful awareness that Aang was dead, you started talking about how he was still out there, alive. We had to adapt ourselves to the stories we'd been hearing for so long, everyone was too weary to believe another one. What were we supposed to believe in? Aang had become a mystery, and that's not what we wanted. We wanted to know exactly what happened, who lived and who didn't. Not knowing, it just tore us all apart."

Katara wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She had successfully ripped apart her chicken dinner with her fork.

"Nobody was willing to believe a different story, but I was, Katara, as long as it had a happier ending. That's why I'm here, you see."

Katara sniffed and lifted her head. She smiled at Toph and she felt the younger girl's hand place itself on her shoulder.

"But, you should know, this is another one of those stories I'm forcing myself to believe. It's really hard, but I'm doing it for the sake of you, possibly Aang, and for all of us…so we can finally know the ending. I'm not here to find Aang; I'm here to find the truth."

Katara nodded. "I guess that's fair," she blushed at how much she sounded like she had just been crying—which she had. "Now that I think about it, I guess that's what I'm looking for, too."

All of Katara's memories concerning Aang came flooding back into her head all at once. His smile, his laugh, his gorgeous eyes, his voice, they all played back for her in shades of sepia. She clenched her hands into fists on her knees.

"No, I'm looking for Aang," she corrected. "I know he's out there."

Toph nodded but didn't say a word. After a while she turned back to her plate. Katara's mind was swirling with thoughts of a small boy as free as the wind as she slowly picked at her food.

Once they headed out of the restaurant, Katara felt a gust of wind blow past her. She closed her eyes and felt its soothing feel brush past her arm and blow her hair. She smiled contently at the element that described her missing friend in so many ways.

"Maybe all I have to do is follow the wind," Katara muttered, thinking out loud.

"What was that?" Toph asked.

"N-nothing!" Katara stuttered, blushing.

"Oh no, I heard what you said," Toph put her hands on her hips. "What I want to know is what do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, it didn't mean anything!" Katara defended herself. "I was simply talking crazy. That chicken must have had something in it!"

She patted her stomach and rushed forward, back to the hotel. She felt Toph's vibrations follow her after a few seconds.

* * *

When they finally reached the hotel again, Toph instantly fell on the bed into a deep sleep. Katara sat down on the corner of her bed and thought about what she had been thinking since she exited the restaurant.

_Maybe following the wind might help. It is Aang's element, after all. It sounds so stupid, though._

She closed her eyes and thought about Aang...all her happy memories with him. She smiled at them. A gust of wind blew through the room from the open window, enveloping Katara in a cool embrace. Suddenly, without warning all the bad memories with him began flooding into her mind. She frowned as she remembered every quarrel, every sad moment spent with Aang. It all ended with memories of the crash… that fateful day.

"_Katara!"_

"_Aang, seriously, don't panic!"_

_The hummer suddenly swerved out of its lane. The tires squealed and Katara barely had time to scream before the two vehicles collided. Both cars crashed into the gate of the bridge and the sound of the metal caving to the pressure was heard before the sensation of falling filled Katara's senses._

"_Katara, no!"_

_Katara screamed as she heard her name. They jerked forward and she heard the sound of splashing. Katara jerked along with the car. It seemed to be rolling every which way and she couldn't interpret up or down anymore._

_Everything was blurred in a rush of speed and adrenaline as Katara jerked forward yet again, colliding her head with the dashboard._

Katara's eyebrows furrowed. She wished she had listened to Aang when he had told her to get out of the car. Instantly she felt guilty for ever wanting to leave Aang behind in a situation like that. But there was one question: Why did Aang want to get her out of the car? Did he know what was about to happen?

Katara squeezed her eyes tighter.

"_Anything wrong?" Katara asked._

_Aang leaned back looking confused. "Does that look strange to you?"_

_Katara looked forward and saw a hummer on the opposite side of the road. It was zooming at full speed, with a determined looking woman inside. Her eyes were planted right on their car._

"_What is she doing?" Katara asked, slightly nervous._

_Aang looked panicked. "Katara, I don't think you should be in this car anymore."_

_Katara was confused._ "Excuse me?"

_Aang unlocked the doors and slowed down a bit, rolling up his windows. "Quick."_

"_You're kicking me out?" Katara's annoyance was triggered. "The car is still moving!"_

_Aang glanced nervously out his window at the hummer, still quite a distance away and quickly approaching. "Just trust me on this one."_

Katara's eyes snapped open. What _was_that woman doing? She could remember the face clearly—as it being one of the last visual memories she had. Long black hair, ruby red lips, deathly determined eyes… yes, Katara could see her quite clearly.

It suddenly occurred to her that she might be searching for the wrong person. Was the suspicious looking woman the real target? Katara gasped and she quickly got under the covers, closing her eyes. She suddenly realized how tired she was, and her focus was drifting in and out. She knew what she was going to do tomorrow, and the last conscious thought she had before drifting off into a world of unpleasant dreams was the determined face of that woman at the steering wheel, and the panicked look of Aang as they collided.

* * *

_Author's Note: I can't believe I've gotten any reviews for this story in the first place... me being such a bad updater and all OTL but more would be much appreciated! And thanks to everyone who took my poll!! I may just do another one, now... :O I love those things! Anyway, see mistakes, tell, sorry, fanfiction messes my writing up for some reason. The document is flawless though! Hahaha okay maybe it isn't because my writing certainly isn't flawless but there were no visible mistakes that I could see in the five hundred times I re-read it. My eyes hurt now... oh great I have school work to get to now... I hate the end of the summer the most. :(_

_P.S. Oh yeah, second longest chapter FTW!!_


	8. The Alley

_Author's Note: Woah... I can't believe I'm already on Chapter 8! Thanks to all my faithful reviewers so far! Please don't be afraid to comment, I like those. :) _

* * *

Morning came faster than Katara had hoped. Before she knew it she was waking up a very grumpy Toph and sitting her on the bed to talk to her.

"What is it, Sugar Queen?" Toph mumbled, sleep still evident in her voice.

"Toph, I was doing some thinking last night—"

"What else is new?" Toph asked sarcastically.

"Toph, I'm serious."

"Fine, sorry, continue," Toph swatted her hand.

"Well, I remembered the day we got into the crash," Katara continued with a slightly annoyed tone. "I remembered, there was this woman, not much older than me, and she was driving in the other car. She was the one that hit us. Maybe…maybe she has something to do with this. Maybe she purposely hit us!"

Katara waited for Toph to respond, but no sound came from her friend.

"Toph?"

"Katara, are you out of your mind?"

"Toph!"

"No, seriously, Katara. You honestly think we're going to stalk this woman now? It was already crazy enough looking for Aang."

"Hey! I thought… last night," Katara was at a loss for words.

"I know what I said last night," Toph replied. "But it doesn't excuse my criticism."

"But I have reason for thinking that!" Katara defended. "I…she looked… well, not angry exactly, but more like determined, really nasty."

"And you think… that's why she…what exactly do you think she did?"  
"I don't know, kidnap Aang, maybe?"

"_Kidnap_ him? Why?"

"Well, maybe I'm wrong, but… the doctor said she was really personal, she was only in the hospital for a while, and no one really knew much anything about her."

"Still…" Toph started.

"I know it sounds crazy, but that hasn't stopped you from coming here with me in the first place!" Katara pointed out. "Please help me find her. She might at least know something about all of this."

Toph sighed. "Fine, I'll help."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Katara hugged her friend. "I'll tell you what I remember about her so we can split up and cover more ground. Call me if you find anything."

--

Katara pushed her way through the crowded city. It was rush hour and so it was really hard to get anyone to stop for some questions. Katara hadn't gotten any calls from Toph so far, so she guessed she hadn't found anything, either. It had already been about two hours, and Katara's faith in her plan was growing thin.

Katara sighed, rubbing her temples from the growing migraine forming in her head because of all the noise. New York City was such a busy place! Suddenly, she heard the familiar sound of her cell phone ring tone coming from her jean pocket.

Since Caller I.D. was no longer of any use to her, Katara had given each of her friends their own ring tone so she could know who she was answering to. This way, she could still avoid unknown callers.

Katara recognized the sound as one of her friends ring tones, but she realized it wasn't Toph's. She felt somewhat disappointed by that, and when she lifted the phone to her ear, she wondered which of her friends was calling.

"Katara?"

The voice on the other line was crackly and a bit high-pitched. Katara instantly knew who it was.

"Sokka!"

"Katara, how are you doing with the search?"

Katara was baffled as to why her brother was calling her, especially about this. However, it was good to hear his voice.

"Not so well. Toph and I split up a while ago."

Sokka said something back but Katara couldn't hear over the car horns and people talking. She walked past a subway and it got even harder to hear his voice.

"Hold on," Katara yelled, putting her finger in the opposite ear to hear better. "I can't hear you. I'm going to find someplace quiet."

It took a while but finally Katara stumbled across an alleyway that looked empty and it was very silent in there. She turned into it and unplugged her ear.

"There, Sokka, now what were you saying?"

"I was _saying_that you and Toph shouldn't split up! Haven't you ever heard of the buddy system? It's not safe—"

Katara laughed. "Sokka, I'm fine. Really, Toph and I can handle fine on our own. It's just to cover more ground. We're looking for this woman who might have been involved in Aang's disappearance. We have our cell phones so we can meet back up later."

"Katara, that's beside the point. A cell phone isn't going to save you if you are ambushed by some freak that—"

"Sokka, I can sense with my feet. I know when…"

Katara trailed off. She suddenly realized that she felt a heartbeat from behind one of the dumpsters. She had at first assumed it was a stray cat or something, but it was heavy and had been surprisingly still since she had entered the alley. Her heart raced and Katara felt her legs freeze and refuse to budge.

"Katara?"

She felt her hand shaking on the cell phone and her voice sounded more nervous than she had intended.

"Sokka, I'm going to have to call you back."

The weight shifted from behind the dumpster. _Like it had been waiting for this moment._

"Katara, what's going—!"

_Snap._Katara shut her cell phone and slowly started walking out of the alleyway. She hoped that whoever was behind her didn't hear her leaving.

The weight was suddenly flying towards her and Katara's eyes widened. Her feet caught up to her senses a second too late and the mystery person grabbed her by the arms before she could run.

Katara thrashed and kicked, but at that moment the first thought that came to mind was when she was running away from her father, and he had caught up to her. If she couldn't escape her own _dad_, who loved and cared for her, how could she escape this _stranger?_

Terrified, Katara clawed at the arms that held her down. She dropped her cell phone and began to thrash more violently. She elbowed the person in the ribs, and doubled over, letting go of her.

Katara began to run as fast as she could. Arms reached out for once again, but they missed. Katara heard the sound of Toph's ring tone from behind her. Her eyes widened and she slowed down for one second, realizing she had left behind her only means of finding Toph.

One second was all that was needed for the stranger to catch up to her. He wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her up to his chest. Katara choked and gagged, thrashing uselessly in the air.

"_Stop it_," the man hissed. His voice was gruff and sounded unused. "_Stop moving so much."_

Katara thought that was a very stupid thing to say, because her mind was so blank that was about the only thing she could think of. Staying limp was out of the question… her body was moving in its own accord. Not that she minded, she didn't want to stop moving anyway. She struggled fruitlessly for a breath of air.

Katara noticed her cell phone, still ringing, on the ground. The man started walking back slowly, and he accidentally… or maybe purposely… stepped on it, silencing it. Katara panicked and threw her head back, successfully head-butting the man in the jaw. He fell over and grabbed her by the legs.

"_You're not leaving yet_," he demanded.

"Just take it!" Katara whacked him in the head with her bag. He stumbled back before getting a good grip on it. Katara sprinted forward once again and ran towards the entrance of the alleyway.

She didn't much care over the loss of her bag. She had taken a cheap, thrift-store-bought, hand-knit bag only containing some face powder, lip gloss, and a couple of dollars. Nothing else was in it.

She reached the entrance when the man caught up to her again. He threw the bag at her chest.

"_I don't want that_," he said huskily.

Katara's heart pumped faster.

"PERVERT!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Heads turned, exactly what Katara had wanted.

"N-no!" Katara could practically hear the man's blush. "That's… that's not… I-I'm sorry!"

Katara was confused. This man seemed so… _evil _just one second ago. Now she felt as if she had just falsely accused an innocent man off the streets, or… an innocent _boy_. Now that he was stuttering, she realized he sounded not much older than her.

She raised an eyebrow.

"I-I'm not what you think, I swear!" the boy promised.

"I don't care, just leave me alone!" That being said, Katara sprinted down the street, happy to notice that the boy wasn't following her.

Before he was out of ear-shot, however, Katara thought she heard him mutter, _I thought that girl was blind… why is she so fast?_

--

"KATARA!" she heard her name being called. _"KATARA!"_

Katara felt Toph's familiar vibrations running down the sidewalk towards her. She had been looking for her friend for hours, and it had been Toph who found her.

"Katara, what happened?" Toph demanded. "I called you twice and you didn't pick up! And when I called you again—the phone was unavailable! What in the world was going on?"

"Toph, calm down, I'll explain!" Katara reassured her. "I was—attacked by the weirdest person ever."

"_Attacked_?" Toph shrieked. "By who? Are you hurt? What did he do?"

Katara shrugged. "It was just a boy, not too older than me. He tried to drag me to the back of the alley, I think, but I wouldn't let him."

Toph punched Katara in the arm. "Way to go, Sugar Queen. I didn't know you had it in you."

Katara smiled, rubbing her now sore arm. "At first I thought he wanted my bag, but then I couldn't figure out what he wanted. He said he wasn't who I thought he was."

"What did he mean by that?" Toph asked.

"Who knows?"

There was a long pause between the two girls.

"Well, I'm hungry. Let's go get something to eat and I'll tell you why I called." Toph offered.

Katara nodded. "That's a good idea."

She had just realized how hungry she was. Being ambushed was hard on the stomach.

The two headed into a nearby restaurant. It was small and most people were at work by this hour, so they were instantly brought to their seats by a kind lady with a soft voice. She seemed young, like she was still in college.

Neither of the two girls said anything to each other until they got their menus, where Toph decided to speak up after she decided what she wanted to eat.

"So, Katara, about the call," she began.

"Oh yes, you were going to tell me about that," Katara recalled.

Toph nodded. The waitress came over and gave them their drinks, and they ordered their food. As she walked away, Toph continued.

"Well, I did what you said, and I started asking around," Toph started. "Man, was that hard. Anyways, I was walking around for hours until I finally came across a gas station. I asked one of the men that worked there if he had seen the woman you described, and he did."

Katara's heart raced in excitement. "Someone saw her? Do you know who she is?"

"No," Toph replied. "But I _do_ know that she goes into the night club across the street from the gas station every night."

"Really?" Katara started to wonder what kind of person this woman was.

"Yup, I think we should follow her there tonight," Toph told her.

"Tonight? But… but we don't even know what her vibrations feel like!" Katara reasoned.

Toph shrugged. "Good point. I guess we'll figure it out when we get there."

"Toph—"

"And don't you dare say my idea is insane. I've put up with all of yours, now you do what I say for once," Toph ordered. "Besides, you may regret not coming with me. What if, I don't know… Aang is with her… for some… strange reason."

Katara sat with her mouth open for some time before shaking her head and smiling. "Fair enough," she agreed.

The waitress came over to them not too long after and handed them their food. The girls took their sweet time finishing, savoring the fact that they didn't have to ask around the city anymore. Katara tasted victory and it felt good. She was right—New York City _was_the place she needed to look in. She couldn't wait to tell Sokka and Hakoda she was right.

This thought suddenly reminded her of something.

"I need a new phone," she groaned.

"What?" Toph asked with her mouth full of food.

Katara put her head in her hands. "I need a new phone. The creep in the alley stepped on my old one."

"Oh, that stinks," Toph sympathized.

"I know."

"Here, tell you what, I'll get you a new phone after this, okay?" Toph offered.

Katara lifted her head. "You would do that?"  
"Hey, I'm rich; it wouldn't really affect me much."

Katara's face brightened. "Thank you so much, Toph!"

She stood up and hugged her friend from across the table.

"Okay, I get it, Sugar Queen!" Toph yelled. "You're getting your hair in my food!"  
Katara sat back down and smiled. "Sorry."

Toph grumbled, finishing her meal.

--

"Pick out whatever you want," Toph said.  
Katara raised an eyebrow. "Now that I can't see… I can't really tell them apart."

"Hey, that's an upside, huh? Now you don't have to get a really elaborate one because you can't even use half the features!"  
Katara slumped, "Oh yeah."

She ended up picking out a pretty standard phone—mostly good for calling, nice and original. She did this for two reasons: one because of what Toph had pointed out, and two because she didn't want to waste too much of Toph's money.

The girls reached their hotel room and the first thing that Katara did was call Sokka back.

She was annoyed because now she didn't have anyone to set in the "ring tone I.D." for her anymore. She had Sokka put them in for her, but now the only friend near her was also blind. She would have to wait a while longer before she could know who was calling again.

"Hello?"

"Sokka!"

"Katara? Where are you? What happened that made you hang up so suddenly?"

Sokka sounded angry, and Katara couldn't blame him.

"Sorry, Sokka, I did something really stupid. Toph and I won't split up again, I promise. But I'm okay now, so there's nothing to worry about."

"_Nothing to worry about_? You're okay _now_? Katara is this some kind of joke? Tell me exactly what happened."

Katara sighed. "Sokka, what time is it?"

"Don't avoid my question!"

"I might not have a lot of time, just answer my question."

"What? Katara where are you?"

"Relax, Sokka, I'm at the hotel! I just want to know what time it is!"

"It's around five o'clock. Why do you need to know?"

"I have somewhere to go tonight."

"Where?"

Katara giggled. "If I told you, you'd freak out."

"Which is why I want to know," Sokka sounded deadly.

"We're just going to be out looking for Aang," Katara reassured.

Sokka didn't seem to buy it. "Katara—_what's happening_?"

"Katara!" Toph whined. "Are we going or not?"

"Just a minute, Toph," Katara told her. "Sorry, Sokka, got to go."

"Again?" Sokka sounded upset. "Why do you keep leaving so suddenly?"

"I'll call you tomorrow night, okay?"

"Okay, don't forget!" Sokka warned.

"I won't. Love you."

"Love you, too. Bye."

"Bye."

Katara hung up and turned to Toph.

"You know, it's a little early to be leaving. Don't you think?"

Toph smiled. "Yeah, but it seemed Snoozles was giving you a hard time, so I decided to speed up the conversation."

Katara laughed, "Good thinking."

* * *

_Author's Note: Ah, good ole' over-protective Sokka. ;) It gets epic from here. Sorry about the boringness leading up to it. It's misleading! Well... if I can write the story well, it'll be epic. Let's hope I don't fail!  
Sorry about all the grammatical/spelling errors. I did my best!_

_Reviews help me write better. CONTRIBUTE! :)_


	9. The Club

_Author's Note: This chapter is so short I finished it in one sit-down! Hahaha that, like, never happens! Anyway, thanks to all reviewers! I hope this story is good... I already know what I'm going to post after this story is finished. -.- I'm so excited about it, I already started writing it. It's goooood!! Haha at least I think it is! There's just one problem... it's not Avatar!! D: Sorry, guys, I've been getting into other animes, too, recently. :( But, I'm still an Avatard! This won't be the last fic coming from me of Avatar!_

* * *

By nine o'clock the girls were waiting down by the night club. They had to get fake I.D.'s to get in, and both of them, mostly Katara, felt immensely guilty for doing so, but Toph reminded her it was for a good cause, unlike most of the people who sneak in, and it eased her feelings a bit.

Once inside, Katara already felt a headache forming from the loud music and all that yelling. There seemed to be more noise going on inside here than in the whole entire city of New York, and Katara felt herself once again becoming woozy. It took her a while to compose herself, but eventually she was able to focus once again.

"Are you ready?" Toph's voice rose above the rest of the noise.

"Yes!" Katara shouted.

The two girls went around describing a woman that was _possibly _there. Katara was scared out of her mind someone would answer, "That's me." She was terrified to approach a possible killer.

Strangely enough, all the people Katara asked so far had never seen this person before. Even the people who were daily-night-club-goers. Katara shoved her way through a large crowd of people, searching for Toph's familiar vibrations. It was hard to distinguish one amongst hundreds, but she could just barely tell where her friend was located.

"Dude! That's so sick! Do it again!"

"My mom is going to kill me if she finds out I'm here!"

"Crap! Is that our history teacher flirting with some girl over there?"

"Did you hear of that comet that's coming? Yeah, it'll pass right over New York in about a week!"

"No, I don't want to dance with you. Hey, leave me alone!"

The voices of so many people reached Katara's ears, and she wondered if any of them belonged to the one particular person she was looking for.

"Toph!" Katara yelled once she reached her friend. "It's a bit loud in here!"  
"What!?" Toph asked.

"I said it's a bit loud in here!"

"WHAT!?"

"IT'S A BIT LOUD IN HERE!"

"Oh!" Toph laughed. "I agree!"

"Nobody seems to know who I'm talking about!" Katara shouted.

"Same here!"

"Should we go outside!?"

"What!?"

"SHOULD WE GO _OUTSIDE_!?"

"Oh! Yeah!"

The blind friends headed towards the exit. Once the doors closed, the music and loud talking stopped.

"Ah, yes!" Katara raised her hands in the air. "Clear, non-smoky air! Quiet surroundings! I am _free_ again!"

"Over-dramatic much?" Toph laughed.

Katara smiled. "Let's go to that gas station, see if the guy can tell us when that girl leaves. Then we can go to the night club tomorrow and follow her vibrations."

Toph nodded, "Hey, good idea!"

"Yeah, but it'll slow us down a bit. We have a time limit, here."

Katara and Toph crossed the street, and the smaller girl led Katara over to a man with very heavy footsteps.

"Um, excuse me, sir? Do you remember me?" Toph asked.

"Course I do!" the man's voice was gruff but friendly. "I never forget a face! What can I do ya for?"

"Well, I was wonderin' if you could do a girl a favor." Toph asked confidently.

"Sure thing! Name it and you got it!"

Katara couldn't help but notice the similarities between the man and her friend.

"That girl I was here askin' about earlier... did she already head in?"

"Course! Went in a while ago. Saw her with my own eyes. Just strutted right in and disappeared in the crowd! She goes there so often she doesn't even need to show I.D. anymore!"

Katara's eyes widened. "What?"

"Oh, hey there, girlie! Say, are you friends with her?" he asked Toph.

"Very good friends!" Toph assured.

"Well, nice to meet'cha!" the man grabbed Katara's hand and shook it with much force. "I suppose you don't wanna tell me yer name, either?"

Katara raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"No, she doesn't," Toph answered for her.

"Well that's okay, then!" the man said cheerfully.

"Can you tell us when she comes out?" Toph asked.

"Sure I can," the man turned back to her. "If ya weren't such a fun person to talk to, I'd ask ya why in the world ya'd wanna know."

"It's a long story."

"Heck, I've got time. I'm stayin' here with you two until this lady leaves, after all. She always takes a dang long time."

"You know we're blind, right?"

The man scratched his head. "Well, Geez, I guess you are. I knew somethin' was up with yer eyes, the way ya never look at me and they look so distant. But I figured that couldn't be 'cuz ya sure walk like ya know where yer goin'."

"Yeah, well me and my friend are special," Toph said, nudging Katara. "But we still can't see what people look like, and that's why we need your help."

"That still don't answer why you need to find this lady."

"_That _part," Toph said. "Is personal."

The man didn't say anything after that, and the three sat down on crates and waited for the mysterious woman to come out.

* * *

Katara leaned on her hand and began to doze off. It had been four hours of _pure and utter boredom_, and the woman had yet to come out. Katara believed this was torture, the price paid for not listening to Aang when he told her to get out of the car. Would things be different if she had?

"There she is!" the man shouted, standing up.

Katara jolted up, too. Luckily, the man was only loud enough for the two girls next to him to hear.

The vibrations of a woman with light feet—but not as light as Aang's, Katara was sure—walked down the street across from them. She had just come from the night club, but her steps were sure and confident, she knew where she was going and did not seem one bit drunk.

"What was she doing in there?" Katara asked out loud.

"If we knew that," Toph replied. "We wouldn't be here."

It took a while, but finally Katara's mind fully woke up.

"We need to follow her!" she decided suddenly.

Toph grabbed her arm. "No, no, no… baby steps, Sugar Queen. It's one o'clock in the morning and I'm exhausted. We'll come back tomorrow night."

"But—"

"But nothing, you're tired, too. We need sleep before we can go chase around some random lady."

The man behind them was utterly confused. Katara could feel it.

"Fine," she gave in, noticing how tired she was, herself.

"Good," Toph grumbled. She turned to the man. "Thanks so much for the help!"

"Nothin' to it," the man replied. "Come back anytime when ya need a thing or two."

"I will," Toph promised, and with that the two of them headed back to their hotel.

* * *

_Author's Note: Yup, very short. You could call it a filler, but I never really understood those. I mean, this chapter is still important, it just goes by more slowly! Hey, you don't get everything in life so easily! Some things are going to be slow and boring. Katara and Toph are definitely lucky! If this weren't a fanfic, they would have never gotten this far! Haha thank god for fiction!_

_It was really fun writing with such bad grammar and spelling when Toph and that guy were talking to each other! :) It's not often you can get away with that in a story. I like that guy. So friendly and trusting! haha_

_Reviews make me happy! :) So write away!_


	10. The Phonebook

_Author's Note: Sorry about the prolonged hiatus... especially to all of those who are really devoted to reading this. It's just... my first year of high school, I'm at a new school, I have to make new friends, I'm involved in sports and after school programs, and I'm in mostly honors classes... there just hasn't been enough time to be working on this. But I've been hacking away at it slowly and it's finally finished. Since I worked on this through a long period of time and not a few days as is the norm there is probably a lot of errors such as the mood of the story changing abruptly and conversations ending too soon or not making sense. I'm sorry... I tried my best! I hope you all like it and that I didn't kill my story by taking such a long break!_

* * *

"Toph, I've been meaning to ask you something."

It was nine o'clock and the two girls were heading once again towards the club that they had been to the night prior. A question had been itching at Katara's mind since that night and she felt obliged to ask it.

"And what would that be?" Toph asked.

"Well… about that guy at the gas station…"

"What about him?"

"Why wouldn't you tell him our names?"

Toph laughed. "Oh, that? Why, do you wanna tell him your name? I'm not stopping you."

"Toph!" Katara shouted. "That's not what I meant!"

"I know," Toph said. "I just didn't want him to know at first because I didn't know him and when I finally did… I just thought I'd keep it going. You never know if he's… like a spy or something."

"A spy?"

"Mmhm… or maybe a ninja."

"_Toph_," Katara started.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Toph assured her.

"But all jokes pushed aside," Katara bowed her head. "He's still a pretty nice guy."

"He is," Toph agreed. "But I don't think anyone else would ever know that."

"Why not?"

"Sugar Queen, when you're blind there is really no room for judging people."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Katara asked.

"We can't see what people look like," she explained. "We can't judge what kind of person they are by looking at them. We have the blessing and the curse to judge a person by what's in their heart and who they really are."

"That's true, I guess," Katara pondered. "There's no room for criticalness for us anymore."

"But I can tell by his voice and his vibrations that he's the type of person others don't want to hang around. It's that kind of person I like being around the most." Toph nudged Katara. "They make for a good conversation."

"HEY!" a deep voice bellowed out.

"Hey!" Toph called back and ran towards the person they had just been talking about.

"You guys gonna do some snoopin' today?" the man asked.

"Yup, we're gonna wait here 'til that lady shows up tonight." Toph responded.

"We'll you ain't hafta wait too long then, 'cuz the lady already inside."

"Really?" Toph asked, shocked.

"Yup, went in early tonight. Guess she's got a good date or somethin'."

"Thanks for telling us!" Toph acknowledged and grabbed Katara's wrist. "C'mon, let's go."

The two girls sauntered into the club. Their poor ears were met with the sound of blasting music of all the popular songs and a there was a putrid smell of beer and smoke. Forcing herself to focus all of her senses on locating a needle in a haystack, Katara planted her feet into the wood of the floors.

"Got her!" Toph announced. "She's… hanging out at the bar. Wait, she's moving!"

Toph once again grabbed Katara's wrist and ran. They shimmied their way through a great crowd of people, on and off the dance floor, and past the bar until they were met with a wall.

"Toph, we're at the back of the club," Katara pointed out.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Toph said sarcastically. "She's not here anymore. I think she left through a back entrance."

"A back entrance? Where?"

"Right… here," Toph pushed on the wall and sure enough there was a back entrance to the club.

"Come on," Toph ordered as she walked through. Katara followed and a soon as they shut the door all of the music and noise became silent.

"She's over there," Toph whispered. "I think she's near a dumpster or something…"

Toph and Katara snuck towards the source of the vibrating, covered by nightfall.

"I think she has company!" Katara whispered back in a high-pitched voice.

As they got closer, the sound of a voice became prominent.

"I think he was here… the little traitor just keeps getting away, doesn't he? Well, we will just have to be more precise next time. He can't run forever…"

Katara's heart beat faster. Was she talking about Aang? She inched closer to the voices, hoping to catch more of their conversation.

"There's five more days left… then he'll be ours for the taking. Nothing is standing in our way; I made sure to cover up the tracks."  
Katara couldn't believe what she was hearing. She wanted to run away to someplace safer but keep listening at the same time.

"He's tricky but we have to remember, we're trickier. I'm not going to let him get away another time. Only get me again if you have important information. I can't keep coming here… it'll start to get suspicious."

Suddenly Katara heard a new voice. It was high-pitched and sounded cheery but at the same time scared and determined.

"Azula, what if something goes wrong? What if someone finds something out? We made a big mistake; it's going to be hard to pull this off!"

"Shut up!" the woman, Azula, yelled. "_I'm_ not the one who made that mistake! _You_ said he would be alone! _You_ were wrong! Because of _your_ error, the whole plan almost didn't work! _You_ gave me false information! _I'm_ no the one to blame!"

"O-Of course not!" the other voice stammered. "I'm sorry, Azula. I spoke out of place."

"Yes, you did. Don't forget that I'm a Raikou and my family can dispose of you whenever I please."

The voices became hushed for a moment and Katara feared they had been spotted.

"It's getting cold out. Let's go back," Azula suggested. The other agreed and the two women began heading back to the entrance.

Once the door had closed Katara was able to let out a long-held breath.

"Did you hear that?" Toph asked.

"Hear what?" Katara asked.

"We got her name!"

"Yeah, so?"

"We can look her up in a phonebook and find where she lives!"

Katara's eyes widened. "Toph you're a genius!"

Toph shrugged, "I know."

* * *

The two girls rushed back to their hotel room. Toph snatched a phonebook from the nightstand.

"Wait, how are we going to read it?" Katara asked. "Ugh, being blind can be so inconvenient!"

"We don't have to read it," Toph answered as she headed out the door.

Katara looked at her strangely. "Wait for me!"

Down at the main lobby Toph casually walked over to the front desk where one of the hotel workers stood.

"Excuse me? I need some help. I'm supposed to meet my cousin at her house in an hour. I came all the way from California and I forgot to ask her where she lives! As you can see, I'm blind and I really need to know where she is. Can you please tell me where Azula is in this phonebook?" she handed the confused man the thick book.

"Of course, ma'am," he obliged.

Katara bit her lip as she heard the man flipping through the pages. It wasn't a foolproof explanation but no hotel worker with half a brain would question a guest.

"Could I have a last name, please?" the man asked.

"Raikou," Toph offered. "Azula Raikou."

"Here it is!" the man announced. "She lives on 12 Fyre Place."

"Thank you for your assistance," Toph said as she took the book back.

"It was my pleasure," the man assured her and parted with them.

Once he was out of ear shot, Katara burst with joy.

"So now we know where she lives! Do you think Aang will be there? When should we go? How should we get there? Should we go now?"

"Stop!" Toph shouted. "Calm yourself, Sugar Queen. We should wait until tomorrow when this girl will be at the club again before we go. Then we can break into her house without running the risk of her being inside."

Katara groaned, "I _hate_ waiting for her to go into the club! It's been so long already! We have a time limit, remember? We've already used up a lot of time!"

"Katara, we have three more days left! It'll be okay! If we go now, she might already be at home!"

"But tomorrow's our third-to-last-day! I can't go back home empty-handed!" Katara sounded panicked and desperate.

"Stop acting like we're running out of time!" Top yelled. "We can do this!"

"Toph, I'm just being reasonable! We need to go now or we might never get another chance!"

"Hey, don't blame me that we only have three days left! You're the one who made that stupid deal with your dad."

"It was the only way I could get him to let us go!"

"Then be thankful we're here, at least. Stop being so eager to break into someone's house… we're doing something illegal because you think Aang's still alive. We could get put into a crazy house for this, Katara! I'm dragging myself down with you because I care about you and I'm not going to allow you to do this on your own! So quit acting like you need to find Aang because he was the only person who ever cared about you! You have me, a nervous wreck of a father back at home, a doting brother, and irreplaceable friends who have your back! It's not the end of the world!"

Katara was speechless.

"We got into a fight again," she laughed; but it was the bitter, humorless kind of laugh. "This journey isn't doing much good for us, is it?"

"How long did it take you to figure that out?" Toph asked.

"I just felt like my whole life was being ripped apart when everyone told me Aang was dead. But they didn't have proof so I didn't believe it."

"Good old, stubborn Sugar Queen," Toph laughed. "You're life isn't being torn apart. It's just a little ripped at the seams. That's why I'm here with you now… it's like a healing method. I'm helping you sew it back together."

"So this whole trip is just a cheesy way to help me feel better?" Katara smiled.

"Pretty much," Toph sighed. "But on the slight, and by slight I mean almost nothing, change that we do find Aang that would probably work even better."

Katara clenched her fists. "We will." She affirmed.

"Good," Toph punched her friend. "That's the Sugar Queen I know!"

Katara rubbed her arm. "Yeah, thanks for that reality check, Toph."

"No problem," Toph assured. "Just get me whenever you need another!"

Katara made a mental note to herself to never ask Toph for a reality check.

* * *

_Author's Notes: dun dun dun! For all of you who guessed Azula in their reviews: You are so good! I didn't think anyone would be able to guess. ;) Especially since I didn't decide until right before I did that chapter who actually ran into them... but you guys are really good! Congrats to all of you... and please review! I like criticism, especially on tough chapters like this! Let me know what you thought of it!_

_P.S. Raikou is Japanese for "lightning". ;) I thought it fit._


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